Spider-Man: Brand New Day has kept fans guessing about many of its characters, and MJ‘s new boyfriend has particularly caught fans’ attention. While the movie shied away from revealing his identity, some fans appear to believe that they’ve figured out who MJ’s current boyfriend in the MCU actually is.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day accidentally reveals MJ’s new boyfriend’s identity
As reported by several fans on social media, the man seen kissing Zendaya’s MJ in Spider-Man: Brand New Day could be Paul Rabin, who made his debut in the comics in 2022.
Discussions about the identity of MJ’s new boyfriend began when fans who had seen subtitled screenings of Spider-Man: Brand New Day claimed that the open/closed captions had referred to the character, played by Ahsoka star Eman Esfandi, as Paul. X user @thinkerjackpot was one such fan who took to social media to post this.
“The open captions screenings of spider-man: brand new day confirms that mj’s new boyfriend is indeed… paul,” they noted. The X user further clarified, “He’s credited as ‘the boyfriend’ officially, but the closed/open captions screenings are listing his name as paul on his dialogue.”
Paul Rabin is a minor character in Marvel comics who becomes MJ’s new boyfriend following her separation from Peter Parker. Interestingly, Paul is also the son of Benjamin Rabin, a deep-cut Spider-Man villain popularly referred to as Emissary.
Despite the connection, Spider-Man: Brand New Day did not make any nods to Paul Rabin or his father, Emissary. Instead, the movie credited Esfandi’s role as simply ‘The boyfriend.’ The decision to conceal the character’s name could be due to his minimal screen time, with Esfandi only appearing in the film for a single scene, or perhaps a larger plan to expand upon the character reveal in sequels.
Marvel Studios has yet to officially clarify the confusion surrounding the identity of MJ’s new boyfriend.
